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Minimum leaching scheduling of nitrogen fertilization and irrigation

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Abstract

This paper develops and applies a dynamic mathematical model for optimal scheduling of nitrogen fertilization and irrigation that minimizes nitrogen leaching subject to a target level of yield. The analysis assumes a single crop grown during a single growing season of a given length. It is shown that substitution of water for nitrogen along a given plant growth path decreases nitrogen leaching and, therefore, groundwater contamination. It is proved that a minimum leaching solution to the optimization problem is obtained with a single nitrogen application at the beginning of the season and irrigation scheduling that maintains a wet soil throughout the growing period. A numerical example utilizing experimental data for an irrigated summer corn in Israel confirms and quantifies the analytical findings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agriculture Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 76100, Rehovot, Israel

    Meira S. Falkovitz & Eli Feinerman

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  1. Meira S. Falkovitz
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  2. Eli Feinerman
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Falkovitz, M.S., Feinerman, E. Minimum leaching scheduling of nitrogen fertilization and irrigation. Bltn Mathcal Biology 56, 665–686 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02460716

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02460716

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